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WILLIAM HOLCOMB WEBSTER, 



OF CONNECTICUT, 



LATE CHIEF EXAMINER 



UNITED STATES„CIVIl SERVICE COMMISSION, 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 
SAVAGE & REDFIELD, PRINTERS. 



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On March 23, 1896, Major William Holcomb Web- 
ster died suddenly at his home in Washington, D. C, 
about 5 p. m., just after returning from his office, where he 
had discharged his usual duties during the day in appar- 
ent health. The announcement of his death came to his 
associates in office with startling suddenness. On March 
25, the day preceding his burial, by authority of the Civil 
Service Commissioners, a memorial service was held in 
the room of the Central Board of Examiners, which was 
attended by the Commissioners, by all the employes of 
the Commission, and by representatives of many of the 
Departments who were intimately acquainted and had 
been associated with Major Webster. At this service 
impromptu addresses were made by many of the persons 
present, stenographic notes of which were taken and 
are here published. In addition to these addresses, there 
are published herein the minutes of the Commission 
upon the death of Major WEBSTER, the resolutions 
adopted by the employes of the Commission, and letters 
from former officers, who gave expression of their regret 
and sympathy. 

Major Webster was born in Burlington, Conn. , Jan- 
uary 24, 1839, and was a direct descendant of Governor 
Webster, the first Colonial Governor of Connecticut. He 
graduated from Trinity College in 1861, and at once en- 
listed as second lieutenant of Company I of the Fifth Con- 
necticut Volunteers. In 1863, having been discharged for 
disabilities, he returned to Connecticut and became pro- 
vost-marshal. After the war he served in Louisiana dur- 



ing the reconstruction period. In 1869 he was appointed 
chief of the old War and Navy division of the Pension 
Bureau, where he remained until, in 1886, President 
Cleveland appointed him Chief Examiner of the Civil 
Service Commission to succeed Mr. Lyman. Prior to 
that appointment Major Webster had served for several 
years on the Departmental Board of Examiners, and his 
activity and interest in the work had done much to help 
inaugurate successfully the civil-service system in the 
Federal Departments. While engaged in the Pension 
Office he took a course in the Columbian Law School, 
graduating in 187 1. He belonged to the Grand Army of 
the Republic, the Military Legion of Honor, the Sons 
of the American Revolution, and the Masonic order. He 
was deeply interested in cementing the friendship be- 
tween the two opposing elements of the war, and was 
ever active in doing what was possible in promoting 
friendly relations. 



MINUTES 



UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION. 

March tzventy-jifth ( Wednesday), 1896. 
Commissioners Procter, Rice, and Harlow present. 



3rt 2TTemoriam. 



On Monday afternoon, March twenty-third, Major 
William H. Webster, the Chief Examiner of this 
Commission, died suddenly. 

At the beginning of the Commission's work, in 1883, 
Major Webster was Chairman of the Central Board 
of Examiners, on detail from the Pension Office, where 
he was a chief of division. Much of the credit of the 
organization of that board and its work belongs to his 
early efforts in the cause. On August 28, 1886, upon 
the advancement of Mr. Lyman, who was then Chief 
Examiner, to be Commissioner, Major Webster was 
appointed Chief Examiner by President Cleveland. 

The United States Civil Service Commission desires 
to record in its minutes an expression of its appreciation 



of the high character, unusual abilities, and manifold 
services of Major Webster, who for over nine years was 
Chief Examiner of the Commission. His death is a 
personal bereavement to each Commissioner, yet it is as 
a public official that they especially wish to speak of 
him here. From the enactment of the civil-service law 
he was interested in the work of the Commission, and 
every year increased his devotion and usefulness to the 
betterment of the public service. He was painstaking, 
faithful, and just in all his duties. His conclusions 
were formed only after thorough and conscientious con- 
sideration of the questions before him, but once formed, 
were sturdily maintained, yet always with courtesy and 
kindliness. 

The Commission feels it due to the memory of Major 
Webster to make record of this official tribute, and it 
is ordered that this minute and the action of the Com- 
mission and its employes at the memorial meeting be 
communicated to the secretaries of the various boards 
throughout the service. 



Remarks of Commissioner John R. Procter. 

My Friknds: I have just arrived from the train, and 
I only heard of this sad event last night. Coming into 
the building and finding the flag at half mast, and pass- 
ing through the vacant room, I can not address you. I 
can only say that I come here to meet with you and join 
with you in paying tribute to our late fellow- worker — to 
the noble, brainy, strong man who has left us. I think 
that this loss comes to me more than to any of you as a 
great personal loss. I have learned in my service on the 
Commission to lean upon this strong man — to rely upon 
his wise counsel and his disinterested advice. I have 
known how true he was, how deeply he had the interests 
of the public service, and your interests, and the inter- 
ests of the great work we have in charge, so at heart, 
that I can not fittingly express my feelings over my own 
great personal loss and the great loss to you and to the 
public service. My regret is deepened when I think that 
we are soon to reap the rewards of an extension of the 
classified service and in the improvement and simplifica- 
tion of the rules, to which Major Webster gave so many 
careful, thoughtful days of his life in the past few months. 
It is with peculiar regret that I feel that he can not be 
with us and aid us in putting these rules into execution. 
We will miss his wise counsel, his friendly aid, and his 
kindly words in the coming days. Feeling as I do, I 
can not attempt to address you, but will call upon my 
fellow-Commissioners. 



Remarks of Commissioner William G. Rice. 

A week ago, on a sunny afternoon, Major Webster 
came into my office to say good-bye, as I was to go away 
early the next morning. In his most kindly way he 
wished me a successful journey. I told him something 
of what I hoped to say while in Boston, and also that I 
should improve that opportunity to publicly express 
appreciation of the faithful work done by him and by 
you, and from my intended remarks I read to him this: 

I should not be just did I not express my appreciation of the admir- 
able work done by that body of trained and expert officials and em- 
ployes who make up the force of the Commission. Their experience, 
intelligence, and skill have contributed and will contribute in no small 
degree to the complete and successful accomplishment of the Com- 
mission's policy. 

He thanked me with a few words, but chiefly expressed 
his gratification by a look, which I hold as a most pleas- 
ant memory. He asked to have a copy of what I was 
to say, and we parted. That is my fortunate, latest re- 
membrance of the generous-hearted man who has gone 
upon the long journey. 

As I recall it, Major Webster, after Mr. Procter, was 
the first person I knew in the Commission, and it was by 
his introduction that I met most of you who are gathered 
here. I came to have a great regard for him personally, 
and, though sometimes we did not take the same view of 
affairs, it was always a satisfaction to have his carefully 
formed opinion, to which we all gave great weight. We 
sorrow at the separation from him whom we have known 



so well, and we deeply sympathize with those to whom 
the bereavement comes still closer. "He is not dead; 
he is just away," is a verse of James Whitcomb Riley's 
which comes with special meaning as we think of the 
hearty man, alert to so many varied interests, who a few 
hours ago was our associate. There is, too, something 
peculiarly comforting and peaceful in the thought that 
his last earthly act was to take the attitude in which he 
prayed, and to know that as he knelt his spirit returned 
to the God who gave it. 

He was a faithful churchman, a brave soldier, strong 
in all his beliefs, firm in his friendships, painstaking in 
his work, seeking always to be just in his judgment. 
He was trusted, and was worthy of trust in every relation 
of life. Lord Nelson's motto, which the Commission 
has made somewhat its own, may well accompany the 
emblem which we send as our tribute of remembrance: 
Palniam qui meruit fer at. 



Remarks of Commissioner John B. Harlow. 

We are gathered here today to honor the memory of 
our late associate, William H. Webster. Personally, 
the ties that bound me to him were manifold. He was 
my brother, my comrade, my companion, and a fellow- 
worker and adviser in the cause of civil-service efficiency. 
This friend of ours who has gone before us was a manly, 
brainy, conservative man and a safe adviser. This Com- 
mission has lost by his death its right arm. Peace to his 
ashes. 



Remarks of Hon. Charles Lyman, 

Ex-Civil Service Commissioner. 

Mr. Chairman and Friends: This sad event which 
we contemplate today came to me suddenly, and to you 
with equal suddenness, so sudden indeed that the mind 
is almost benumbed. I have not been able properly to 
think. Fortunately I have been compelled in the last 
twenty-four hours to be busy, and busy somewhat in con- 
nection with preparations for the last services which will 
be held over Major Webster's remains. What I shall 
say, therefore, the brief word that I shall speak, will be 
the word that comes to me while I stand here. 

In the contemplation of any event everyone has his 
own special point of view, and as we contemplate this 
sad event, each one will look at it more or less with refer- 
ence to its effect upon himself. We shall emphasize one 
thing or another thing according to our relations with 
our friend who has gone. I appreciate fully all that has 
been said by the Commissioners with reference to Major 
Webster's character as a public official, with reference 
to his importance to this work which he has laid down, 
with reference to his great value to the Commission, and 
to the cause which he served here. I say I appreciate 
this to. the very fullest extent, and I look at this event 
from this point of view, and I regret, I deplore, the loss 
to the public service, for it is a loss that it will be diffi- 
cult to supply. 



But I approach this event with another feeling. Major 
Webster to me was not only a public official, not only 
a man devoting himself to the public service, and seek- 
ing the public weal, always and everywhere, but for 
many years he has been my personal friend. I have 
been associated with him in many ways — in the public 
service and out of the public service — in organizations 
to which we both belonged, and to some extent in our 
social lives; and the loss of this personal friend is an 
event that comes very close to me as a sorrowful one. 
And yet there is something that we need to rejoice in. 
I think that I rejoice in the fact that my friend, as I 
might have expected, was faithful to the end. In every 
duty, in every responsibility, in every relation of his life, 
so far as I know — and I know pretty well what his life 
was — he was faithful, honest, true, everywhere and to the 
last, and he went out as he had expected to go, suddenly. 
You all know, I suppose, or most of you, that he had 
looked forward to this kind of departure. 

A word about the life of this man. He was one of 
those of whom there are a great many, especially in New 
England, not poor in the sense that he was deprived of 
the ordinary blessings that make life comfortable in his 
boyhood, but poor in the sense that he was early com- 
pelled to make his own way in the world, to rely upon 
his own energies and exertions to advance his fortunes. 
He earned by one means or another money enough to 
take his course in college. When the war broke out in 
1861 he was in his senior year in Trinity College, and, 
like a great many other patriotic young men, he left the 
college and went into the army and served throughout 
the war, served faithfully and served honorably, and at 
the close of the war still remained in the service and was 
assigned to duties which were trying, which were diffi- 
cult, and which taxed the capacity of those persons who 



were assigned to them to the utmost — duties which re- 
quired absolute integrity, ability of the highest order, 
and courage which knew no flinching. Major Webster 
fulfilled expectations in this service. Retiring from the 
army he entered the civil service of the Pension Office 
and rose through the various grades to the position of 
chief of one of the most important divisions in that office, 
and held that position until he became Chief Examiner 
of the Civil Service Commission. You all know what 
his life has been here and what his work has been here. 
I need not enlarge upon it. You can not know it better 
than I know it. When a vacancy occurred in this office 
in the position of Chief Examiner, it became a very 
serious matter who should fill it. There were applicants 
whose claims were pressed with the utmost persistency. 
Major Webster was not an applicant, but the Commis- 
sion, in looking over the ground, in canvassing the field, 
felt that it was wise and best for the public service to pass 
by all of those who had applied for the place and to ask 
the President to appoint him. He did appoint him. 
And I stand here today, after nine, almost ten, years 
from that time, to say, as I look back upon it, that no 
mistake was made. You know that no mistake was made. 
Major Webster, in every emergency, in every position 
in which he has been placed during these ten years of 
service as Chief Examiner, has been true to the oath 
which he took. He has performed his duties intelli- 
gently, faithfully, courageously, and impartially. Some 
of you may have felt at times that you were misunder- 
stood, or that you misunderstood him, but I am sure you 
all give him credit for acting according to his best judg- 
ment and with courage and determination to do his duty, 
and to require duty of you and only that. He has never 
sought to hurt anyone's feelings. 



Now, what more need I say ? The public service has 
lost a most faithful, conservative, and competent official. 
You have all lost a personal friend, for I know, probably 
better than you know, how Major Webster carried every 
one of you, every one with whom he had official relations, 
in his thoughts, remembered them in their work, sought 
to make the way pleasant and agreeable for them, and to 
do every one fair and even justice. This was character- 
istic of the man. My friend — your friend — has gone. It 
is better for him, I have no doubt, and we may not rebel 
against the decrees of an all-wise Providence. God has 
blessed him and I pray that he may bless us and temper 
to]us this affliction. 



Remarks of Mr. John T. Doyle. 

It has been my good fortune to have been associated 
with Major Webster and Mr. Lyman since the earliest 
history of the Commission, and I wish to express my 
sympathetic concurrence with what Mr. Lyman has so 
fittingly said respecting the character and services of 
Major Webster. 

It is the first time that death has invaded the ranks of 
the Commission. It has come suddenly, taking the Chief 
Examiner in the prime of his powers and usefulness, 
when his services were of most value. But in the econ- 
omy of Nature it is no matter if death comes suddenly. 
Cicero says: 

Nature has lent us life as we lend a sum of money; only no certain 
day is fi^ed for payment. What reason, then, to complain if she de- 
mands it at pleasure, since it was on this condition that we received it. 

Historians tell us that the decline of the Roman Em- 
pire was slow because of the efficiency of the subordinate 
officers of the government, both civil and military. It 
was Rome itself that fell, and not the provinces, which 
were preserved by the fidelity of the public servants. 
While the purple was put up at auction and the great 
men at Rome betrayed each other, the minor officers 
stuck to their posts and did their duty. Major Web- 
ster's career illustrates the value to the State of the 
faithful subordinate office-holder, no less important to- 
day than in the days of Rome. He gave his best years 
to the two great national movements of his generation — 



that of defence of the Union, with the obliteration of 
slavery, and the reform of the civil service. That man 
indeed has lived to noble purpose who has devoted the 
best that is in him to the loftiest moral ideas of his time. 
Major WEBSTER was one of those heroes who formed the 
blood and sinew by which our common country was pre- 
served. He crowned his patriotic service in the war by 
aiding in peace to make our civil service purer. Times 
of peace have their victories as well as times of war. The 
growth and prosperity of a state depends upon the char- 
acter of its servants. Where good, they, as did the Roman 
soldiers, arrest the causes of decay and advance the fron- 
tiers of empire. Where the servants are bad, the best 
laws are powerless to preserve the Republic. Major 
Webster is an example of the good servant, the kind of 
man who should compose not alone the military but also 
the civil service. The state is chiefly known through 
its officers, and the services of such faithful employes as 
Major Webster have contributed materially to advance 
the Nation to its preseut eminence. 

Major Webster began his service with the Commis- 
sion on the Central Board of Examiners, and when Mr. 
Lyman became Commissioner, Major Webster, as Chair- 
man of the Central Board, was at once, and naturally, 
thought of for Chief Examiner. The early work of the 
Commission in new and untried fields was full of diffi- 
culties. It was almost a providential benefaction that 
the direction of the examinations should have been put 
in the hands of a man of experience, industry, courage, 
self-reliance, honesty, and balance. A man of timid or 
vacillating mind would have retarded, if not wrecked, 
the infant work. His associates did not always agree 
with him, but they were glad to recognize his impartial- 
ity, his conscientious adherence to his convictions, and 
his punctual and thorough performance of every duty. 

16 



He argued openly and fairly, and his opinions were free 
from personal prejudice. His one ambition, his sole re- 
gard, was for the protection and elevation of the public 
service. He fought tenaciously, with no sign of yield- 
ing, for what he deemed the best interests of the service. 
He knew well the evils to be remedied and the dangers 
to be avoided, and he countenanced no resort to shifts or 
subterfuges. He came into conflict with public men of 
his own party, and with his friends; but there was never 
any suspicion of self-seeking or the advance of his per- 
sonal interests. He was — 

Constant as the northern star, 
That unassailable holds in his rank 
Unshaked of motion. 

Last Monday evening I was at a lecture by Dr. Rog- 
ers, of this city, on London. He showed us many beau- 
tiful views of Westminster Abbey, and among them, the 
monuments commemorating the great characters of Eng- 
lish history. I am not sure, but I presume that a study 
of the designs of those monuments would show the 
progress of thought in the last two centuries in the idea 
of death. 

One of the monuments was that of Mrs. Nightingale, 
who died in the arms of her husband. The sculptor 
represents a cave, on the top of which the images of the 
man and wife are seated. Death comes forth from the 
cave and touches the wife with his spear. The husband 
shrinks in horror and puts out his hand to avert the stroke. 
This is the medieval idea of death. The lapse of a cen- 
tury has given us a more satisfactory belief. We no 
longer look upon death in that awful light. Death 
comes not only at the moment when the spark of life dies 
in the body, but throughout life there is change and 
decay ; tissues are corrupted, and in all the Seven Ages of 



Man the process continues. Analogy and reason tell 
us that Death is a natural form of Being. One writer 
says: 

Turn which way we will, we find no " killing principle " in nature, 
only a vitalizing and sustaining one. Throughout its whole extent, 
nature is life; in all its forms and modifications, one vast and infi- 
nite life, subject, no doubt, to the extinction of particular phenomena, 
but never to absolute and total death, even in its weakest and least 
things. Anything that looks like death is a token and certificate of 
life being about to start anew. Death and life are but the struggle of 
life with itself to attain a higher form. 

Young expresses this thought: 

While man is growing, 

Life is in decrease; 
And cradles rock us 

Nearer to the tomb. 
Our birth is nothing 

But our death begun. 

So, also, Bishop Hall: 

Death borders upon our birth, 
And our cradle stands in the grave. 

Modern science finds many believers for the idea that 
man passes from sphere to sphere in being, according to 
his fitness and development, and that birth is the incar- 
nation of the dead. 

The ancients, it is said, understood this better than 
ourselves. Homer describes the notion of an unembodied 
soul. They had only the light of nature, but to them 
the bones and the flesh were incumbrances of mortality 
to be consumed on the funeral pile. Euripides wrote: 

Who knows but that this life is really death, 
And whether death is not what we call life? 

18 



Emerson in his poem, "Brahma," makes the Supreme 
(Brahma) say: 

If the red slayer thinks he slays, 

Or if the slain think he is slain, 
They know not well the subtle ways 

I keep, and pass, and turn again. 

Great changes in the ideas of death are fast taking pos- 
session of the modern human mind, following upon the 
medieval beliefs of the consequences of sin. Longfellow 
expresses the modern view: 

There is no death! 

What seems so is transition; 
This life of mortal breath 

Is but a suburb of the life elysian 
Whose portal we call death. 

Another poet says: 

There is no death! the stars go down 

To rise upon some fairer shore; 
And bright in Heaven's jeweled crown 

They shine forevermore. 

It is an unfounded and ascetic idea which regards the 
other side of the grave as a cheerless abode, if an exist- 
ence at all. Rather think of Love and Death as "the 
two sweet lords, friends to the human race, whom fate 
gave being together." 

In the words of Tennyson — 

We rise on stepping-stones of our dead selves to higher things. 

Why and what should we fear? Shakespeare says— 

Of all the wonders that I have yet heard, 

It seems to me most strange that men should fear; 

Seeing that death, a necessary end, 

Will come when it will come. 



The soul is naturally qualified for a state of future hap- 
piness. We are endowed with powers and capacity for 
pleasure not to be met in this life. Our friend has gone 
before us. Let us wait with serenity, making our facul- 
ties fit for the future happiness and rewards sure to at- 
tend on virtue when death destroys the false images 
about us and we are restored as in sleep. 



Remarks of Mr. E. D. Bailey. 

I have been intimately associated with Major WEB- 
STER for nearly nine years, coming in daily contact with 
him, knowing well his methods and manner, and I think 
no one thing about him will linger with me longer than 
the recollection of his genial manner and kind-hearted- 
ness. He was almost uniformly kind and polite in his 
manner. In the nine years of my association with him 
I do not remember that he ever gave me a cross or dis- 
agreeable word. Even when there were differences of 
opinion he did not resort to harsh or arbitrary methods 
to carry his point, but gave due consideration to all that 
could be said against his own ideas. He never made his 
subordinates feel the inferiority of their position, but 
associated with them almost as a friend and companion. 
He aimed to be perfectly fair and just. I think I speak 
only the sentiments of every employe of the Commission 
when I say that we have not only lost a valuable official, 
but a valued friend. 

I would respectfully offer the following resolution for 
the adoption of the employes of the Commission: 

Whereas, Major William H. Webster, the Chief Examiner of 
the United States Civil Service Commission, has been suddenly re- 
moved from us by death; therefore be it 

Resolved, That we, the employes of the Commission, who have 
been associated with Major WEBSTER in office duties, hereby express 
our deep sense of personal loss. We recognized in him a public offi- 
cial of absolute integrity, of a kind and generous nature, and one who 
was just and fair in his administration, especially in dealing with his 
subordinates. We have had abundant reason to admire his upright 
Christian character, and we sincerely mourn his death. To his sor- 
rowing wife and daughter we offer assurances of our deepest sympathy 
in their great bereavement. 

[Unanimously adopted by a rising vote.~\ 



Remarks of Mr. F. M. Kiggins. 

I did not expect to be called upon to say anything on 
this sad occasion, but being called upon I feel that I 
would neglect my duty if I failed to pay some slight trib- 
ute to the memory of our late Chief Examiner. I have 
not been associated with him so long as some others 
at the Commission, but I have been associated with 
him long enough and closely enough to admire his char- 
acter and to recognize his ability. When I think of him 
I can not help recalling to mind the well-known saying 
that ' ' an honest man 's the noblest work of God. ' ' Major 
Webster was one whom I regarded as an honest man in 
the broadest sense. He was not only correct in the de- 
tails of life which constitute honesty from a worldly stand- 
point, but he was just and upright in the highest sense. 
I do not believe that any man understood better than he 
the reciprocal relations which should exist between man 
and man. As a public official his career at this office 
was one of untiring industry. He did not seem to know 
the limit to a day's work. He believed that he could 
not give too much time and thought to the work of this 
Commission, the cause which he loved so well, and in 
which he enlisted his best energies for so many years. I 
do not believe that there is today another official in the 
public service who is more conscientious and painstaking 
than was our late Chief Examiner. He was thorough. 
I know from long experience with him that nothing re- 
ceived his approval or his official sanction until he was 
satisfied that it should be approved. During the last two 
or three years, as the work of this Commission continued 
to increase, the Chief Examiner was considerably worried 



that he could not give it all that personal supervision 
which he could in the earlier days of the Commission, 
but notwithstanding the many vexatious questions which 
necessarily beset him as Chief Examiner, he had won- 
derful self-control, and complications and difficulties were 
mastered by him, one by one, without the slightest loss 
of that serenity of temper which was his under all cir- 
cumstances and conditions. Mr. Bailey has referred to 
the manner in which he treated subordinates. I beg to 
make a further reference to that subject. Our late Chief 
Examiner did not look upon them as subordinates. He 
regarded them as associates, and I believe that every per- 
son in the Chief Examiner's division feels that he was on 
friendly terms with him in this office. While he was a 
strict disciplinarian and insisted that each man should 
perform his duty, he did not believe that harsh methods 
resulted in the best work. I can say personally that the 
time I have given to the work of the Commission after 
office hours was done simply to co-operate with the Chief 
Examiner, not because he insisted that the work should 
be done. I know that this same feeling animates others 
connected with the Commission, especially with the Chief 
Examiner's division. Mr. Doyle has stated that Major 
Webster's first experience was as Chairman of the Cen- 
tral Board, and I wish to express on behalf of the Central 
Board the deep sense of personal loss which I am sure 
every member feels on this sad occasion. The Chief Ex- 
aminer occupied a position in this office which required 
absolute integrity as well as the highest order of ability. 
As to his integrity, it was never questioned, and as to his 
ability, it has been seen and felt in the work of this Com- 
mission for many years. In him the Commission has lost 
an honest and capable official, and his friends and asso- 
ciates now feel, and will continue to feel as time passes 
on, that the unrelenting hand of Death has taken from us 
a kind, generous, and whole-souled man. 



Remarks of Mr. George B. Hoyt. 

He has fought a good fight and has entered into the 
enjoyment of his reward. A great solace to my grief is 
the reflection that there is implied in that reward the rest 
which he could not obtain in this vale of life, loaded as 
he was with harassing details of official work as well as 
weighty responsibilities. 

Peace to the ashes of a loyal friend, a zealous church- 
man, a conscientious official, a true husband, a devoted 
father, a brave soldier, and an upright citizen. 



Remarks of Mr. Matthew F. Halloran. 

Mr. President: The unerring hand of death has laid 
its withering grasp upon an officer of this Commission. 
It has set its seal upon our beloved Chief Examiner. 
Major Webster is dead. His spirit has passed across 
the silent river. No more in life shall we look upon his 
kindly face or hear his cheerful voice. Like a flash of 
lightning out of a sunny sky came the news of his death, 
startling all with its awful suddenness, as it occurred only 
a few minutes after leaving his office, apparently in the 
best of health and spirits. 

Death — the destroyer, from thy potent spell, 

Nor sex, nor age, nor strength, nor weakness 'scapes. 

Time's hoary locks — the ringlets of gay youth — 

The hero's laurel, and the poet's wreath — 

Love, honor, health, and beauty, are thy spoil: — 

The mitred, and the sceptred yield to thee, — 

In deferential horror, all— all submit, 

Save Virtue, who in radiant smiles beholds 

Thy dread approach, and, arm'd in Heaven's proof, 

Contemns thee and thy retinue of ills, 

Alike triumphant o'er the tomb and thee. 

Thou canst not rob thy victim — thou mayst slay him, 

Tear him from those dear arms that cling around him, 

And teach survivors to deplore thy power: — 

But, for this temp'ral life — this life of sorrow — 

This life of death — thou givs't him life eternal, 

Unfading joy, and everlasting love! 

Taken prisoner by an enemy that never releases its vic- 
tim, our late associate surrendered in obedience to the 

25 



dictates of an all-wise Providence and, with day declin- 
ing in the Golden West, his soul passed into the presence 
of his Maker. 

Having listened to the tender sentiments expressed in 
the choicest of rhetorical gems, I feel that I can add noth- 
ing to the wealth of eulogy paid to our departed associate, 
but my long acquaintance with and warm ftiendship for 
him urge me to pay a brief tribute to his memory. I 
became acquainted with Major Webster during the sum- 
mer of 1883, at the office of the Commission, then located 
in the Annex Building to the Department of Agriculture. 
He was detailed from the Pension Office to serve on the 
Departmental Board of Examiners, then being organized. 
He was elected Chairman of the Board and continued in 
that office until August 28, 1886, when he was appointed 
Chief Examiner by President Cleveland. His genial 
social qualities and affectionate nature at once made an 
impression upon my youthful mind and commanded 
my esteem and admiration. Crossing the threshold of 
youth into manhood's estate, that esteem and admira- 
tion increased with each succeeding year. His cheerful 
mien, friendly and sympathetic greeting, and amiable 
disposition were so distinctly characteristic that to know 
was to admire him and feel that he was indeed a true 
and staunch friend. He was always of one disposition, 
and that the happiest and most cheerful. All these quali- 
ties so happily blended, so gracefully combined the traits 
which distinguish just and honorable men as to be worthy 
of Antony's tribute to Brutus: 

His life was gentle, and the elements 

So mixed in him, that nature might stand up 

And say to all the world, "This was a man." 

He possessed an almost inexhaustible fund of enter- 
taining anecdote that rendered his companionship most 

26 



agreeable, and his short stories abounded in quaint hu- 
mor and instructive moral. His appreciation of the work 
done under him made the doing of it a pleasure and gave 
the utmost encouragement to those engaged upon it. 
This happy characteristic, mingling with his trained ex- 
perience, his masterful mind, and stability of purpose, 
eminently qualified him to discharge the arduous duties 
of his important office. His zeal and indefatigable indus- 
try were instrumental in bringing the work incidental to 
examinations to a high standard of excellence. He has 
watched over the birth of a new machinery of the Gov- 
ernment and kept abreast of its gigantic growth. He 
has piloted the reform movement to a safe and hospitable 
harbor; he has seen it buffet the waves of stormy opposi- 
tion and appease the elements that warred against it. 
His work is ended. These halls are forever silenced to 
his footsteps. But yesterday in the full possession of his 
manly strength, today he is no more. His chair is vacant 
and his desk draped with the National flag whose proud 
colors he loved so dearly and defended so gallantly. 
Sweet violets inwreathing the stately palm scent the 
room with their fragrant odor, lending to its appearance 
an air of serenity and simplicity typical of the man. But 
tenderer than the fragrant violets that soothe with their 
sweet perfume, more lasting than the verdant and golden 
palms that gently waft their spreading leaves to the cool- 
ing zephyrs, his memory will endure, clinging to our 
hearts as the ivy to the majestic oak, strengthening our 
resolutions, animating our purposes, making us better 
citizens, truer, nobler, and more faithful Christians. 



27 



Remarks of Mr. Theodore L. DeLand. 

I did not expect to speak today on Major Webster's 
death. No more did I expect two days ago that he would 
pass so suddenly from us. The day that he left the office 
for the last time I was in his room with him up to about 
half-past four. He was then happy and buoyant, and 
gave every evidence that he was in full possession of his 
health and strength. A few little matters were discussed. 
He said, "I will take them up with you in the morning." 
That morning is an indefinite time for me now. In one 
short half- hour after that conversation his noble spirit 
had passed away. I feel keenly Major Webster's death. 
I was related to him by distant ties of kinship. Two 
hundred years ago we had a common ancestor. It was 
one of the pleasures of Major Webster's life, one of his 
amusements, one of his pastimes, to search among the 
people of this country for those who were directly or in- 
directly related to him. It was a fascinating study for 
him. He knew more of our family history than we knew 
ourselves. The first time that I met Major Webster, 
away back when I was a young man, he came to my 
home and told me who he was and how he was related to 
me on my mother's side. From that hour a warm friend- 
ship commenced to grow. It never stopped growing, 
and so long as I live his character to me will be the per- 
fect character of an earnest Christian gentleman. Later 
in life I became associated with him in the early days upon 
the Central Board. I believe I am the only member of 

28 



the Central Board that began the work of the Commission 
in the early days. It was then I learned to know offi- 
cially the character of Major Webster. He was an ex- 
ample of untiring industry. Long after the hour when 
ordinarily the official would close his desk and retire from 
the office, the Major would remain, diligently at work. 
I will take this occasion to say in public that he was a 
slave to duty. It has been said that when the Almighty 
gives life to the child he stores up in that child just so 
much physical and mental energy. I fear that Major 
Webster drew too rapidly upon his allotted energy. I 
am satisfied that he died of overwork. He worked too 
hard and too much. I do not say that as a warning, be- 
cause an industrious man will put in all the work he can 
anyway. I say it as a caution. We can see officials 
overworking everywhere. I have often been called upon 
to participate in exercises on an occasion like this upon 
the departure of overworked public servants. I can re- 
call the death of two Cabinet Ministers in the Depart- 
ment where I served who died almost at their posts. 
Nothing that we could say to warn them would have any 
effect; but as I said before, the industrious men will go 
on and work until life's time-piece runs down. As a 
private in the ranks of the members of the Central Board 
I now speak, and I think I voice the sentiments of all 
my colleagues when I say that we feel that we have lost 
a great leader. During the last two or three months of 
his official life he was engaged in co-operating with the 
Commission in the revision, modification, and reduction 
of the civil-service rules to the simplest possible form. 
I know that the Commissioners are competent to go on 
with their work, but they are like the generals upon the 
battlefield. The commanding general and the brigadier 
generals are all fitted and competent to carry on their 
work, but when the great engineer who has the details 

29 



of the battle in his hands is stricken down, it is then that 
the critical moment arrives. That is our condition. The 
engineer, the man that made the working drawings of 
the new rules, has passed away. The operating of the 
rules, putting them into practical operation, is the great 
work that he has left. I know and I feel that a compe- 
tent man will take his place, but I know and I feel that 
we never can have a more patriotic or a more diligent 
public servant. His bereaved wife has lost a precious 
husband; this Commission has lost a useful officer; and 
in my grief I can say that I have lost a constant friend. 



30 



Remarks of Mr. L. W. Covell. 

Like my brother, DeLand, I did not expect to be called 
upon at this time, and I can simply say that I feel very 
deeply Major Webster's departure. He was, from the 
time that first I knew him, in 1887, up to the time of his 
death, a very warm, personal friend to me, and I was as- 
sociated with him, not only upon the work of the Com- 
mission, but also in Masonic orders where he was a very 
faithful member, and I mourn his loss in both these or- 
ganizations. I think that my feelings upon this occasion 
have been expressed better by Mr. Bailey than I can 
possibly express them, but I certainly think that of all 
the men with whom I have ever been associated Major 
Webster was absolutely the most just and fair man that 
I ever had to deal with, and I can say Amen to every 
word that Mr. Bailey said. I think he pictured Major 
Webster in a very faithful and true light and I agree 
with every word that he said concerning him. 



31 



Remarks of Mr. George A. Bacon. 

I respond, somewhat reluctantly, because I dislike to 
have my name taken in vain on this occasion, which is 
more especially designed as an appropriate opportunity 
for an expression of feeling over our great loss from our 
honored officials and those who have been longest con- 
nected with our late brother, rather than from one of the 
latest contingents and humblest employes of the Depart- 
ment. But I should do violence to my own deepest feel- 
ings if I did not enter into the spirit of this meeting and 
willingly pay my personal tribute to our departed com- 
rade, in the shape of a bunch of forget-me-nots among 
the other flowers contributed on this occasion. 

My duties seldom brought me in contact with Major 
Webster, and hence gave me but little opportunity to 
measure him from my own point of view. It requires, 
however, but a little experience with the sun's rays to 
appreciate the nature of their warmth, and no one needed 
to have many interviews with him before becoming con- 
scious of his wonderfully comprehensive knowledge of 
the duties of his position, his entire familiarity with every 
detail of every branch of the service, his devotion to the 
cause of civil service, and his constant desire to have the 
best represent it at all times and on all occasions. And 
we can do him no greater honor than to imitate him in 
this respect. 

I am no moralist, in the technical sense of the word, 
and so do not propose to draw any moral lessons from the 

32 



death of Major Webster, but for myself, I know that it 
is well with him. And now that he has gone, I want to 
say that the manner of his going was almost an ideal one. 
At least, when my time comes to join that innumerable 
caravan of which the poet speaks, or to sail out on that 
ocean which rolls all around the world, I pray that the 
attending Fates, under the operations of the All Father, 
may so order things that I may, like Major Webster, 
be at home, have my reason, and my exit be a sudden 
one. 

I have listened with deepest interest to the appreciative 
words, in testimony of the worth of our comrade, which 
have been so feelingly and eloquently paid to his mem- 
ory, and I regret that my own stammering words can not 
supplement them more fittingly. But take the will for 
the deed, and in the spirit in which it is offered. I sim- 
ply desire to cast my little handful of immortelles at the 
feet of Major Webster in loving remembrance of his 
memory. 



33 



Remarks of Mr. G. R. Wales. 

I, too, had no right to anticipate that I would be asked 
to add a word at this sad time, and it would be very diffi- 
cult for me to find words to express how deeply I feel 
both the official and personal loss of Major Webster. 
All that I can do, therefore, is simply to add my tribute, 
my unqualified endorsement, to all that has been so touch- 
ingly said of his death. My association with Major Web- 
ster has not been so long nor so close as that of many 
others. My acquaintance dates from some five years ago, 
when my work began on this Commission. In that time 
I learned to love Major Webster as a superior officer, 
and looked upon him as a personal friend. It was a de- 
light always to work for him. Since first learning of his 
death I have tried to realize, in some measure at least, 
the loss that has come upon us, I have gone over in 
my mind the words, "Major Webster is dead," and 
while my intellect tells me so, I am completely incapable 
of sensing it, and do not realize it even now. Major 
Webster is dead, and yet he lives, and will continue 
to live, in loving memory in the hearts of us all. 



34 



Remarks of Mr. Charles L. Snyder. 

I should fail to do my part if, when called upon, I did 
not try to express a brief tribute to our departed friend. 
I say departed, for he is not dead, but gone up higher. 
He has gone to his reward, and while we know that we 
shall never greet him again in the physical form, yet I 
fully believe that he can come in spirit and see us, and be 
with us, and commune with us. Hence, while I keenly 
miss his physical presence, I do not feel that he is lost to 
us in every sense. I can not think that he is entirely 
isolated from all that interested and concerned him here. 

I most heartily concur in all that has been so fittingly 
and touchingly said. Our arisen friend found a large 
space in the hearts of all who came in close association 
with him. He found a niche in our lives and so filled it 
that sweet and vivid remembrance of him will linger with 
us, and as long as we have memory it will never be lost 
to us. 

I, too, have been associated or brought in contact with 
him we mourn for a shorter period of time than many 
others. It has been only about six years, or less, that I 
have known our Chief Examiner, but during that time 
I have known him but to love him. He always had a 
word of commendation for work well done, and when 
words of criticism were spoken they were given with a 
spirit of fairness and justice, and always with the reasons 
for his opinions, reasons that in most cases could not be 
controverted or set aside. 

While his loss to us is deep indeed, and while we mourn 
his absence from us, should we not try to feel that his 
entering the other world is a gain to him that should 
compensate our feelings of sorrow and grief? 

35 



Remarks of Mr. William S. Washburn. 

No words of mine can really add anything to what has 
already been said, but I feel, like others, that it is my 
duty to express my own personal feeling to some extent. 
It has been said many a time here, "Major WEBSTER is 
a friend to me." I voice that sentiment. He has indeed 
been a friend to me, but I want to add that impartiality 
was a characteristic of his friendship. He was more 
than a friend. He was a wise counsellor. He was a 
guide. He was an instructor. He had a reverence for 
law, human and divine, far surpassing that of most men. 
That was one of the strong traits of his character, and 
with this in view he always did what he had to do 
justly, honestly, and courageously. That he always 
acted intelligently no one can doubt. No one doubted 
his ability. No words of mine can do him justice. 
More eloquent than rhetorical expression and more en- 
during than Parian marble is the work he has done, the 
life he has lived, and his influence must remain with 
us. By our associations we become somewhat like those 
with whom we are associated. A man's life is lived again 
in some degree in others, because he can not help but 
influence others, be it for good or be it for ill, so that his 
work speaks today and speaks more eloquently than any 
words we can say. "Though dead he yet lives." 



36 



Remarks of Mr. George W. Leadley. 

After listening to your remarks, I am so filled with 
emotion and bereavement that I can say nothing. One 
of my friends has expressed my own prominent thought: 
That Major Webster fought a good fight and that he 
will have his just reward. 



37 



Remarks of Mr. George W. Hill, 

Of the Department of Agriculture. 

It is never easy for some of us to express our thoughts 
before an audience, and it is especially difficult on an oc- 
casion which has, as in the present case, come to us with 
such a shock, but I am grateful to you, nevertheless, for 
giving to those representing other Departments of the 
Government an opportunity to say a few words on this 
occasion. I know that in whatever I may say I speak for 
a great many who, like myself, have had, perhaps, more 
to do with Major WEBSTER than with any other one in- 
dividual of this Commission. Our conditions were such 
that we were constantly finding ourselves obliged to refer 
to him, and not infrequently obliged to discuss with him, 
perhaps to differ with him, as to the means by which our 
ends could be accomplished. But this I can say most 
truthfully, that I do not know any man, in our Depart- 
ment at least, however much he may at times have dif- 
fered with Major Webster, who, as he got to know him 
better, did not respect him more, did not attach more im- 
portance to his judgment, and did not, I may say from 
the first, accord to him an honesty of intention which 
always disarms anything like bitterness from discussion. 
He was a man who impressed us all from our first acquaint- 
ance as a man we could thoroughly trust, even if he be- 
lieved us to be thoroughly wrong. Curiously enough, a 
few days before Major Webster's death a gentleman con- 
nected with one of the Departments told me that he dif- 

33 



fered more with Major Webster and respected him more, 
and trusted him more, than almost any other man in the 
departmental service with whom he had anything to do. 
In a general way I think we ought all, as citizens as well 
as officials of the Government, to appreciate the double 
lesson which Major Webster's life has afforded in a very 
striking degree. The first, a lesson which, perhaps, need 
hardly be taught to men of our race — that of patriotism in 
war; but in maturer years and later life he has taught us 
another lesson which in all countries and in all times 
needs to be taught, and in no country and at no time I 
think more than now, the lesson of patriotism in peace, 
the painstaking, conscientious, faithful devotion to duty 
in all its aspects, in matters not only of great moment but 
also in its apparently insignificant detail. I fail to re- 
member the name of a somewhat obscure writer, but 
from whose pages I gleaned a beautiful thought which I 
think is especially suggestive in its application to Major 
Webster. It was something like this: That to most of 
us the lives, the great heroic deeds of great men, were 
like the stars, impressive in their brilliancy, and for us 
to look up to in admiration, but away beyond our reach; 
but that the faithful, honest work of those who devoted 
themselves to the everyday duties of life, and who per- 
formed them with a kind word for all that came into con- 
tact with them, with a general thought and friendly sym- 
pathy for all those who were associated with him, are to 
us like the lovely flowers that diffuse their sweet perfume 
and beautiful colors along our path within reach of every 
one of us. There may well be to those who share the 
faith which I fancy most of us here do, some consoling 
thought in the near approach so soon after Major WEB- 
STER'S death of that great festival with which Christen- 
dom celebrates that event which is to every Christian the 
strongest assurance that death is but the entering upon 

39 



a higher life, and of which a writer said a great many 
years ago that it had taken from the grave its victory and 
snatched from death its sting. 

I thank you, Mr. Procter, for giving one from another 
Department, and I may venture to say a strong personal 
friend of Major Webster, an opportunity to speak. I 
will simply say in conclusion that the great sorrow of his 
bereaved family and your own grief at his loss will find 
a responsive chord in the hearts of hundreds of persons 
in every one of the great Departments of the Government, 
and it is a personal pleasure to me to thus pay my feeble 
tribute to a good citizen, a faithful officer, and a Chris- 
tian man. 



40 



Remarks of Mr. F. E. Camp, 

Of the Pension Office. 

A close and very intimate acquaintance with Major 
Webster for a period of nearly sixteen years qualifies me 
in a measure to join with those who today weep over his 
bier and pay a tribute to the worth of a man whose in- 
flexible fidelity and integrity have rarely been equaled, 
and may never be excelled in public life. It was my rare 
good fortune to meet Major WEBSTER shortly after my 
entrance into the public service, in my young manhood, 
and through what means I never knew, he became my 
mentor ; a guide, an example, the gathering up to me of 
all that is worthy and good in man, or that there can be. 
It was through him that I was requested to co-operate 
with the Commission in its earliest days, and we were 
most closely associated in work of a character important 
to the Pension Office, in which we were both employed; 
and it was during this intimate and constant association 
that I learned more of the excellence of this great and 
good man than I had known before, and in a school where 
the faults and incapacities of a man, if any, were sure to 
be brought out. Major Webster's life has always seemed 
to me to be the epitome of faith and duty. During all 
the years that we worked side by side he was always the 
same. There was in him the most absolute devotion to 
duty, and in his work the most painstaking thorough- 
ness that I ever saw in official life. Major Webster be- 
came my guide and familiar companion in organizations 



outside of the public service, and there he developed to me 
most beautifully another phase of his life — the genial and 
brotherly side. I had known something of the fatherly 
aspect before, but now he became more like a brother, 
and I mourn him today as I would mourn my own brother. 
He has gone to be with his God. He has fought his fight 
and it was a good fight, and we may be sure that he will 
obtain his reward. 



42 



Remarks of Dr. Francis J. Woodman, 

Of the Pension Office. 

It was my privilege to know Major Webster for a 
number of years in the Pension Office and in the capacity 
of an examiner working for this Commission, and I con- 
sider myself honored to be able to recognize Major WEB- 
STER as one of my personal friends. My association 
with him was everything that was agreeable, and I found 
in him a staunch and worthy friend — one who was ever 
ready to advise and who stood by when criticisms came. 
I do not wish to prolong this meeting, but wish to add 
my testimony to what has already been said. 



43 



Remarks of Mr. John T. Callahan, 

Of the Post Office Department. 

I; for one, who belong to one of the other Departments, 
was pleasantly associated with Major Webster for a year 
in this Commission, about two years ago, and I can not 
let this occasion pass without saying one word in com- 
memoration of his kindly and gentlemanly bearing. 
When I was associated with this Commission for the brief 
period of a year and first entered it, the first one whom it 
was my duty to approach was Major Webster. He took 
me so cordially and so warmly by the hand that it seemed 
to me I was in the house of my friends. In him I found 
a true and noble friend. In the language of the immortal 
" Stonewall " Jackson, "He has gone to the other side 
of the river to lie under the shade of the trees." We 
will know him no more in life. His memory will be for- 
ever cherished by those he has left behind, and for one I 
honored and respected him. This Commission and the 
public service have lost a valuable servant, his wife and 
family a noble one at the head of the household, and the 
city and community have lost a valuable citizen. I fully 
indorse every word that has been said by the gentlemen 
who have preceded me — that he was a man who was hon- 
ored and respected by all, and we will continue to love 
and cherish his memory. 



Remarks of Mr. William J. Rhees, 

Of the Smithsonian Institution. 

It affords me a melancholy pleasure to attend the me- 
morial services of one so well entitled to honor and 
remembrance as Major W. H. Webster, and especially 
to testify to his interest and useful labors in the society 
of the "Sons of the American Revolution." 

As a patriotic citizen, who had borne arms himself in 
behalf of his country, he was deeply impressed with the 
objects of this society, which are "to perpetuate the 
memory of the men who by their services or sacrifices 
during the War of the American Revolution achieved 
the independence of the nation; to unite and promote 
fellowship among their descendants; to inspire them and 
the community at large with a more profound reverence 
for the principles of the Government founded by our fore- 
fathers ; to encourage historical research in relation to the 
American Revolution; to acquire and preserve the rec- 
ords of the individual services of the patriots of the war; 
to foster true patriotism, and to maintain and extend the 
institutions of American freedom." 

He became a member of the society on the 20th of 
April, 1891, a year after its organization, claiming de- 
scent as a great-grandson, on his paternal side, of Charles 
Webster, and on his maternal side of Diamond Clark, 
both having served with honor as privates in the Connec- 
ticut Militia during the War of the Revolution. He took 
the deepest interest in the society, faithfully attended all 



its meetings, served on its committees of ' 'Advancement ' ' 
and "Recruiting," and was elected in 1895 on the board 
of managers and as historian. In the latter capacity he 
read at the last annual meeting, February 22, 1896, 
obituary notices of the members who had died during the 
year. He served during the last six months on the com- 
mittee to prepare a year book or register of the society, 
in which genealogies of the members and records of the 
revolutionary services of their ancestors are to be pub- 
lished. To this work he gave unremitting attention, and 
his painstaking efforts to secure accuracy and to elimi- 
nate errors, either of statement or in typography, were of 
the highest value and importance. He was well fitted 
for this task, having been engaged for several years in 
editing the "Record of Connecticut Men in the War of 
the Revolution," published by the State, and also hav- 
ing undertaken an extensive genealogical work relating 
to his own family. 

His loss to the society, and especially to the committee 
of which he was my fellow-member, I feel to be irrepar- 
able, and I can fully appreciate and indorse all that has 
been said by his colleagues and friends as to his remark- 
able ability and fidelity and to his genial and lovable 
character. 



46 



Remarks of Mr. S. Herbert Giesy, 

Trinity, '85. 

I did not expect this privilege of expressing my esteem 
and affection for Major William H. Webster, and I can 
hardly add anything to the tributes so earnestly paid that 
able and genial man by his colaborers in the Civil Serv- 
ice Commission. But as a fellow alumnus of Trinity 
College, as a brother in his college fraternity, Psi Upsi- 
lon, and as a member of St. Thomas' Church, where I 
saw him Sunday after Sunday, I would not be properly 
regardful of his friends in those several associations if 
I did not here voice the affection and regard that they 
felt for him. We of Trinity College are proud of his 
abilities and of what he has accomplished as Chief Ex- 
aminer of the Civil Service Commission and as the friend 
and exponent of the reform which that Commission rep- 
resents. The graduates of that institution will be ex- 
tremely proud to hear of the estimate placed upon Major 
Webster's work by the active workers for the improve- 
ment of the civil service and the admiration which they 
felt for his many personal qualities. 

I knew Major Webster as a man. He was one of the 
first men I had the good fortune to meet in Washington. 
I called at his office while he was still in the Pension 
Bureau. His genial nature attracted me — I called again. 
I can not help but think today, as an example of his gen- 
ial nature, and of his interest in others, that although I 
graduated from college in 1885 and he in 1861, he was so 
approachable even by one so much his junior; so sympa- 
thetic with all with whom he came in contact, that I 

47 



stand here this afternoon afflicted with a personal loss. 
I could always come to Major Webster with anything 
on my mind and find him a wise counselor, and one 
who, with all his manifold duties, always had time to 
listen and advise with a friend. 

I have noticed, this afternoon, that while his official 
associates have been speaking, they have been noting and 
recalling his personal virtues. The man overshadowed 
the office; his virtues attracted the faithfulness and co- 
operation of those under him. As has been said today, 
it was not his discipline or severity that caused the faith- 
ful labor of his subordinates, but his personality and 
magnetism that made them take pleasure in working 
with him and assisting him in the accomplishment of his 
plans. 

I think the keynote of the affection and regard in which 
Major WEBSTER was held was that he loved his fellow 
man. He was interested in his fellow men, and they 
loved to follow where he led, relying on his abilities and 
attracted by his magnetism. He said to me once, "I am 
a joiner." He was. He belonged to the Sons of the 
American Revolution, he was a Mason, he belonged to 
the Loyal Legion, and he was a member of a Grand Army 
post. He was a regular attendant at the meetings of his 
college fraternitv and took an active interest in it and in 
each of its members here in Washington, although thirty- 
five years had passed since he had been an active mem- 
ber in college. A Trinity Alumni meeting never oc- 
curred without his presence. Major Webster took an 
active interest in the members of those various organiza- 
tions. He loved them and loved to be in touch with 
them and co-operate with them in the accomplishment 
of what they had at heart. A genial man, a sympathetic, 
whole-souled friend has gone, but those of us who are 
left will long remember and admire him. 



Remarks of Hon. Marriott Brosius, 

Chairman Committee on Reform in the Civil Service, House of Rep- 
resentatives. 

Mr. President and Gentlemen: It may be possi- 
ble that the official relation which I have sustained with 
Major Webster during the last few months may justify 
the feeling that I have in response to the invitation of 
the President of the Commission to contribute one little 
flower to the chaplet with which his admiring and affec- 
tionate friends have wreathed his memory this afternoon. 
To me this occasion has been profoundly impressive. As 
I have listened to your affectionate tributes and looked 
into your intelligent faces, I have almost doubted which 
impressed me most, the virtues of the dead or the superb 
fidelity and character of the living. I rejoice that I 
availed myself of an hour's rest from the Capitol this 
afternoon to come to this memorial service, as well that 
it afforded me an opportunity to look into your faces and 
to hear your words as to join with you in affectionate 
tribute to the memory of your friend. If all that you 
have said is true, Major Webster had a passport to the 
very highest and the very best of rewards that await our 
future. If all that you have said of your friend is true, 
and I do not doubt it, we might say to him, "Death can 
not touch a spirit such as thine, it can only steal the robe 
that hides thy wings. ' ' Your friend has stepped out of 
the door into another apartment. We can not sense 
his condition there, but we can all feel in analogy to 



our experience as we rise in this life that when we 
rise into the life to come our situation and condition 
are improved. We are here but a day, like a bird that 
flies in one window and out the other. The life of that 
bird in this building stands for our life in this world. 
Whence the bird came or whither it went we know 
very little. What the bird did here we are concerned 
to know, and I am quite ready to believe you when you 
say that Major Webster's life, while he sojourned in 
this world, was a great triumph, a brilliant victory, and 
he has his reward. Your friend has gone, but his 
memory remains to you. I will not protract this me- 
morial service by dwelling upon the lesson of his life. 
That open book of a closed career is for our perusal. 
The only way that we can profit by the lesson is to imi- 
tate his example and emulate his virtues. He was called 
hence, I understand, suddenly. He passed away in the 
twinkle of an eye. Some one suggested awhile ago that 
he would like to be called hence suddenly. I know many 
persons who have expressed a similar desire. Oliver 
Wendell Holmes once said that when he heard of a man 
passing away thus suddenly it made his mouth water. 
He was anxious to be thus called. It matters less to us 
how we are called than the state of preparation we are 
in when called. If you could ask the spirit of Major 
Webster today how you should live, I infer from what 
has fallen from so many of your lips, that he would say 
in the language of the sage, "Live in respect to all things 
earthly and material as if you expected to live a thousand 
years, and in respect to all things spiritual and that relate 
to the future, as if you expected to be called the next 
moment." I understand that that was the characteristic 
feature of Major WEBSTER'S life. I infer from what you 
have told us today that he was devoted to duty. I have 
no doubt that if the spirit of Schiller were to ask the spirit 

50 



of your friend today, "What shall I do to gain eternal 
life," Major WEBSTER would answer in the poet's own 
glowing words, "Thy duty ever; discharge aright the 
simple duties with which each day is rife, yea, with thy 
might." This being one of the animating principles of 
his life, I have no doubt he has found, as many will find, 
that after all the path of duty is the way to glory. As 
he was your affectionate and devoted friend, and as you 
have referred to his grief-stricken widow and to his affec- 
tionate daughter, allow me to say in conclusion, to you 
and to them, and to all who loved him living and mourn 
him dead, that you can follow him to the grave with the 
conciliatory reflection "that green grass will cover him, 
fair flowers bloom over him, sweet birds sing near him, 
the place will be hallowed ground; but greener than the 
grass, fairer than the flowers, sweeter than the birds, 
more hallowed than the grave itself, will be the memory 
of your friend enshrined in supreme sacredness in your 
heart of hearts." 



5t 



Extracts from Letters. 

I am much pained at the great loss our cause has suf- 
fered by the death of Major Webster. He was consci- 
entious, earnest, capable, and devoted in an unusual de- 
gree, and civil-service reform is much indebted to him. 
His powers for continuous labor were very unusual, and 
I fear he has shortened his life by over-exertions of them. 
I hope there is some good picture of him which can be 
placed in the office of the Commission. 

DORMAN B. EATON. 



I respected and liked Major WEBSTER very much, and 
my heart owes its sympathy to Mrs. Webster in her great- 
est affliction. 

ALFRED P. EDGERTON. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Introduction .......... 3 

Minutes of Commission 5 

Remarks of Commissioner John R. Procter .... 7 

Commissioner William G. Rice .... 8 

Commissioner John B. Harlow .... 10 

Hon. Charles Lyman 11 

Mr. John T. Doyle 15 

Mr. E- D. Bailey 21 

Mr. F. M. Kiggins 22 

Mr. George B. Hoyt 24 

Mr. Matthew F. Halloran 25 

Mr. Theodore L. DeLand 28 

Mr. Iy. W. Covell 31 

Mr. George A. Bacon 32 

Mr. G. R. Wales 34 

Mr. Charles L. Snyder 35 

Mr. William S. Washburn 36 

Mr. George W. Deadley 37 

Mr. George W. Hill 38 

Mr. F. E. Camp < 41 

Dr. Francis J. Woodman 43 

Mr. John T. Callahan 44 

Mr. William J. Rhees 45 

Mr. S. Herbert Giesy 47 

Hon. Marriott Brosius 49 

Hon. Dorman B. Eaton ...... 52 

Hon. Alfred P. Edgerton 52 



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